Johnson poised to break historic NASCAR record

LOCAL LAPS

Ron Capps:
Finishes third in the final Funny Car standings in the NHRA drag-racing series.

Dillon Felber:
17-year-old Poway High senior wins the World Formula Karting Championship at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Bryce Vallee:
Escondido motocrosser wins his first race as a professional in the REM Series at Glen Helen Park at San Bernardino.

Tobin Whitt:
Finishes second in the final USAC Sprint Car standings after winning the Silver Crown race at Phoenix.

CHECKERED FLAGS

Tony Schumacher:
Claims record seventh NHRA Top Fuel Championship.

Jenson Button:
After winning first Formula One World Championship, jumps from Brawn GP team to McLaren, where he joins 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton in all-British lineup.

In 1978, Cale Yarborough, now a bona fide legend of stock car racing, set a record that no one thought possible.

And once Yarborough won a third straight championship in NASCAR's highest division, few thought the feat would ever be duplicated.

Richard Petty won 200 races and seven championships. But he never won more than two titles in a row.

Dale Earnhardt also won seven championships, but again no more than two in a row — although he repeated three times and won four championships in a five-season span in the early '90s.

Like Yarborough, Petty and Earnhardt are legends in their sport. It's an elite group. David Pearson is another NASCAR legend. Ditto for Junior Johnson. End of the list.

Which brings us to Sunday at Homestead, Fla.

If Jimmie Johnson finishes 25th or better in the finale of the Sprint Cup season, he will become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four straight championships.

As hard as it is for diehard traditionalists down south to accept, an El Cajon native is about to claim one of the sport's most hallowed records.

In fact, if Johnson wins the title as anticipated, he will become only the fourth driver in NASCAR's 61 seasons to win four championships over any span of time.

Given Johnson's domination of the sport this decade — he has 47 wins since 2002 and twice finished second in the final standings (2003 and 2004) and fifth twice (in 2002 and 2005) — how does the 34-year-old rank among NASCAR's all-time greats?

“I don't think he's getting the credit he deserves,” Denny Hamlin said Sunday after finishing second to Johnson in the season's penultimate race at Phoenix International Speedway.

“But I don't think great athletes ever get the recognition they deserve until some time passes.”

So, where does Johnson rank on NASCAR's all-time list of top drivers?

Certainly in the Top 10. Perhaps in the Top Five. But he is not the greatest, yet. Still, Johnson could race for another decade if he wishes. Who knows how many wins and titles the future might bring.

Here's one observer's all-time Top 10:

1. Cale Yarborough:
Yes, Johnson is about to eclipse his record. But Yarborough was a special driver. He raced IndyCars and sports cars as well as stock cars. And you had to love his style — Charge! He finished second (for the third time) the year after his run of three straight titles ended. His 83 wins ranks fifth on the all-time list and he won 15 percent of his NASCAR starts.

2. David Pearson:
He ranks second on the all-time list with 105 wins. And he won a record 18 percent of the races he started. Only the fact that Pearson seldom ran a full schedule of races limited him to three titles.

3. Richard Petty:
His record of 200 wins is untouchable largely because NASCAR averaged about 50 races a season during the first half of his career. But his seven titles speak for themselves. The driver and Petty Enterprises put NASCAR on the map.

4. Dale Earnhardt:
The Intimidator was loved by the sport's purists for the no-holds-barred attitude he brought to racing. But he was also a master of playing the points system. Of the top five drivers on this list, Earnhardt is the only one not blessed with a Hall of Fame crew chief. Seven titles and 76 wins.

5. Jimmie Johnson:
No active driver is better at reading his car and ordering changes from the cockpit than the former off-road racer. Has won 16.2 percent of his starts. Already No. 14 on the all-time win list after just eight seasons.

6. Junior Johnson:
Great innovator as well as driver. Notorious moonshine runner before NASCAR was formed. Winner as a driver and a car owner. He, not Mark Martin, is the greatest driver never to win a championship.

7. Bobby Allison:
Tied for third on the all-time list of race wins with 84. Few drivers spent more time in the cockpit. The greatest ambassador of stock car racing raced on Podunk short tracks the night before many of his greatest wins on superspeedways.

8. Jeff Gordon:
Won his four championships between 1995 and 2001. But NASCAR's sixth-leading race winner has been eclipsed by the driver he brought to the sport — Johnson.

9. Glenn “Fireball” Roberts:
The nickname came from his prowess as a pitcher. He won 33 races in just over 200 starts when he died of injuries suffered in the 1964 Coca-Cola 600. Add him to the list of legends. He was that great.

10. Darrell Waltrip:
Won three titles and is tied with Allison for third on the wins list. But his biggest contribution to the sport was his outspoken presence in front of the camera at the time that television was discovering NASCAR.